Chapter 77: The Interests of Monarch and Minister

Having obtained what he wanted, Zhu Gaoxu could not be bothered to keep grinding away with Hu Weiyong.

He waved his hand at the Embroidered Uniform Guard to the side; the guard nodded, and before long, brought Hu Wenzheng over.

Even though Hu Weiyong knew his grandson was fine, his heart still felt a surge of joy the moment he saw him.

Seeing his grandson in such a distracted, soul-absent state, Hu Weiyong felt a bit of heartache but did not take it to heart.

After all, he knew that falling into Zhu Gaoxu's hands certainly wouldn't result in anything good.

It was just that he hadn't expected the severity of the matter to be far worse than he had imagined.

Walking up to his grandson, Hu Weiyong saw that he was safe and sound, and then paid no more attention to Zhu Gaoxu.

After exchanging a few brief, polite words with Yan Zhenzhi, he turned and left.

Zhu Gaoxu watched Hu Weiyong's departing back and let out a disdainful laugh.

He hoped that after Hu Weiyong returned and saw his grandson was already ruined, he could remain calm.

Having finished with Hu Weiyong's business, Zhu Gaoxu asked Yan Zhenzhi, "How many Daming Guns have been produced in total over these past few days?"

"The results are a bit better than expected; over two hundred Daming Guns have been produced in these two days."

Hearing Yan Zhenzhi's reply, Zhu Gaoxu's eyes lit up.

This result was indeed much better than anticipated.

Nodding, Zhu Gaoxu directly told Yan Zhenzhi to pick out two hundred Daming Guns along with the corresponding gunpowder and lead bullets, as he intended to take them straight back to the Military Camp.

Yan Zhenzhi had no objections to this and immediately ordered people to find horse-drawn carriages and begin hitching them.

Of course, the reason Yan Zhenzhi was so forthcoming was entirely because Zhu Gaoxu said that Lao Zhu had approved it.

Just like that, there were a few more carriages on Zhu Gaoxu's way back.

Under the escort of four Embroidered Uniform Guards, Zhu Gaoxu returned to the Military Camp.

At this moment, it happened to be lunchtime in the Military Camp, so Zhu Gaoxu called all three hundred Embroidered Uniform Guards over.

Then, Zhu Gaoxu pointed to the carriages and said, "These are the newly manufactured Daming Guns, two hundred in total. You all take turns practicing with them over these next two days; in a few days, we will formally train them in how to use them for shooting."

As he spoke, Zhu Gaoxu pulled out one Daming Gun, personally demonstrated it to the group of Embroidered Uniform Guards, and explained the points of caution in detail.

This thing was very simple; basically, one could use it as soon as they picked it up, with the only issue being accuracy.

That required talent and practice, and Zhu Gaoxu had no good solution for it.

After finishing the explanation, Zhu Gaoxu began to inquire about the training progress of these men.

As of now, no one had quit.

It was just that not everyone could endure such high-intensity training.

Lowering his head slightly to ponder, Zhu Gaoxu ordered, "Wait another two days; if anyone still cannot adapt, then eliminate them."

There was no help for it; he only had a quota of one thousand men and was destined not to be able to keep so many.

Moreover, as of now, he had no promises to offer these New Army soldiers.

Everything would have to wait until he could find an opportunity to ask Lao Zhu for more.

Just as Zhu Gaoxu was thinking of Lao Zhu, Lao Zhu sent someone over.

It was the same young eunuch from before, conveying an imperial decree for Zhu Gaoxu to enter the palace.

Just like that, the back-and-forth-tossed Zhu Gaoxu returned to Jingcheng and entered the Imperial Palace.

Led by the young eunuch, Zhu Gaoxu met Zhu Yuanzhang in the Imperial Garden.

At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang was sitting in a pavilion, sipping tea and eating pastries, looking quite carefree.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu did not stand on ceremony; he first picked up a few pieces of pastry from the round table and stuffed them into his mouth, then picked up the teapot and poured himself four or five cups of tea in a row.

Only then did he catch his breath and ask Lao Zhu, "What did Imperial Grandfather call me for?"

Looking at Zhu Gaoxu, who was like a hungry wolf, Zhu Yuanzhang did not mind; knowing Zhu Gaoxu had many things to do, Zhu Yuanzhang did not beat around the bush and said directly, "I heard you went to look at the Daming Guns today?"

Zhu Gaoxu did not speak; he picked up a piece of pastry, tossed it into his mouth, and then nodded.

"The Ministry of Works sent someone to tell me earlier, giving me a detailed report on the data for these Daming Guns."

Zhu Gaoxu nodded while eating the pastry, signaling for Zhu Yuanzhang to continue, as he was listening.

Seeing that this grandson of his had no awe for him, Zhu Yuanzhang was not angry; although he felt a bit helpless, he could not be bothered to argue with him.

Thus, Zhu Yuanzhang continued, "After I saw these data, I did not show any sign of attaching importance to them."

"The item is good, but there are too many old fogies in the imperial court who may not necessarily accept these new things; I had already thought of this."

What Zhu Yuanzhang said was somewhat cryptic, but Zhu Gaoxu knew this was the power struggle between the ministers and the emperor.

Previously, the firearms of Great Ming were primarily Three-Eyed Guns; although their manufacturing was kept secret from the outside, in the end, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Revenue, and the Central Secretariat would all have contact with them.

But the Daming Gun was so sharp that its power, range, and utility far exceeded those of the Three-Eyed Gun.

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang certainly had to keep this thing firmly in his own hands.

Now that only a few people knew how to build it and it was something entirely new, it was very easy for Zhu Yuanzhang to keep it completely under his control.

This touched upon the interests of many people.

So, the fact that they jumped out to oppose it was not only within Zhu Yuanzhang's expectations, but Zhu Gaoxu had also thought of it later.

It was just that what he hadn't expected was that Lao Zhu was a man with a Simulation system, and the reason he hadn't asked about it was that he had already secretly simulated it once.